Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has successfully secured numerous critical wins for the North Country in today’s FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Markup. Fort Drum, military families, veterans, small businesses, and the North Country economy as a whole will benefit significantly from the FY20 NDAA when it passes on the House floor.
“This year’s NDAA includes numerous crucial initiatives for the North Country that I was proud to fight for and secure for our community,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “Several of my initiatives for Fort Drum, military readiness, and East Coast Missile Defense were included that are absolutely critical to our national security and our community, and I’m proud to have continued my track record of delivering results for my district. While this bill is not perfect, I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues toward a $750 billion top line budget to ensure a prudent balance of readiness and modernization to fulfill the national defense strategy.”
Stefanik Secures Wins for Fort Drum and Community
– Authorizes appropriated funds for Fort Drum rail head and unmanned aerial vehicle hangar.
– Supports the President’s Budget request and funds all major end-items and programs at Fort Drum, to include the CH47F Block II.
– Refers to Fort Drum as a model system for integrated military-civilian health care.
– Highlights installation energy resiliency and requires a report on the feasibility for all military installations to be 100% energy resiliency, like Fort Drum, by 2030.
East Coast Missile Defense
– Requires the Secretary of Defense to designate an interceptor site for potential future deployment in the contiguous United States.
– Requires the site designation to be based on the environmental impact statement, strategic and operational effectiveness, and construction remediation efforts.
– Requires the Secretary of Defense to submit the designation report to Congress no later than January 31, 2020
Wins for Servicemembers and Military Families
– Supports 3.1% pay raise for servicemembers.
– Improves Military Housing Conditions
– Ensures a Tenant Bill of Rights, prohibits retaliation or use of non-disclosures, and requires a mechanism to identify, record, mitigate, and notify residents of hazards (e.g., mold contamination) for each property.
– Calls for a meta-analysis on existing standards for residential mold exposure, mitigation and remediation in housing, and the feasibility of developing and implementing a mold assessment, mitigation and remediation standard of practice.
– Supports Spouse Employment
– Increases relocation license reimbursement from $500 to $1000, and requires an independent study on military spouse unemployment and underemployment.
– Ensures continued eligibility for spouse education and training programs, such as MyCAA.
– Prioritizes Education and Child Care Services
– Continues additional funding for schools with a significant number of military children.
– Provides for background check reciprocity for credentialed child care providers to transfer from one military installation to another.
Wins for New York
– National Guard and Reserves
– Fully funds National Guard and Reserves requests for modernization and equipment interoperability.
– Increases funding for National Guard counter-drug programs.
– Military Construction
– Funds New York National Guard Jamaica Armory military construction.
– Ensures improved consultation between the military and tribal governments with regard to military construction projects.
– Requires consideration of environmental vulnerabilities, such as extreme weather, in all installation plans.
– Defense Industry
– Advocates for industrial base preparedness, supports shipbuilding and submarine supplier development, and requires an assessment of the right size and composition of the defense industrial base.
– Advocates for providing a STEM-enabled workforce to support the industrial base and DoD.
– Increases funding for additive manufacturing; and requires a report on Defense-wide investment in additive manufacturing capabilities and its value and efficiency.
– Increases funds for E-11 “BACN” aircraft procurement and tactical network suppliers.
Testing for Harmful Water Contaminants and Providing for Clean-Up
– Supports PFOS/PFOA contamination clean-up for water used for agricultural purposes near current and former military installations.
Wins for Small Businesses
– Adds Cyber Strategy Training for Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and requires the Small Business Administrator to establish, or certify an existing cyber counseling certification program to certify employees at SBDCs to provide assistance to small businesses for planning cybersecurity practices and strategies to respond to cyber attacks.
– Authorizes the SBA to reimburse SBDCs for employee certification costs up to $350,000.
– Extends the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé pilot program until fiscal year 2021 for participating business concern’s eligibility to enter into a mentor-protégé agreements and until fiscal year 2023 for a mentor firm’s eligibility for reimbursement related to costs for furnishing developmental assistance to a protégé firm.
Stefanik Provisions for Combating Military Sexual Assault
– Reinforces the importance of sexual assault prevention and response training, and enhances resources for victims.
– Requires DoD to review policies for areas to improve and promote reports of sexual assault and domestic violence.
